EMR Avis 

Very positive experience when I found myself the wrong train late in the day recently and was reassured and assisted by the train conductor. He made calls to colleagues on other trains in an effort to help me get to my correct destination as quickly as possible and when this option failed he gave me clear instructions regarding the change I needed to make. All this despite having to manage a busy train and with many other calls on his time. Thank you!

This is by far the worst train company I have ever used.

Delays and cancellations are a weekly occurrence on my commute to London, often happening 2–3 times a week. This means journeys that should take around an hour can regularly be extended by 30–60 minutes or more, making it almost impossible to rely on the service.

To make matters worse, some trains still have carriages without working air conditioning. On hot days, this results in passengers sitting in temperatures that feel well above 30°C, with little to no ventilation for journeys that can last 45 minutes or longer. It is genuinely uncomfortable and, at times, feels unsafe.

What’s even more frustrating is the lack of accountability. Despite the constant disruption, the compensation offered is minimal and nowhere near reflects the reality of the situation. In many cases, it amounts to only a small fraction of the cost of a delayed journey, even when delays are frequent and significant.

It’s disappointing that a company providing such an unreliable service is allowed to continue operating at this standard. Customers deserve far better.

This level of disruption has a real impact on daily life, making it difficult to plan work, appointments, or even simple journeys with any confidence, especially when delays can affect more than a third of weekly commutes.

Another long delay because the driver was “delayed”. Are we really supposed to be taken in?

Poor service, first train cancelled first of all just said delayed no times, allowed to board and sit there till 6.17am some 12 mins after supposed to leave and then just had announcements about cancelled no help with an alternative. Asked team didn’t know and found another which then had a technical issue and second train was delayed with another technical issue. Absolute zero communication. To top it all off Free WiFi didn’t work at all and air con in carriage was broken.

After the ticket inspector come round he was trying to be helpful at least, fair play to him for trying whilst everyone else at St Pancras just couldn’t be bothered.

Spotted at least 6 guys in high vis jackets on the platform not one of them working …one pulling a Henry Hoover to be fair but not plugged in …but when we boarded the train with 25 minutes till departure it stank and had overflowing bins and rubbish on the tables. Can I get a refund? What are all these people getting paid for

Used EMR 3x this year and every time have been left stranded in London when all.the trains are cancelled without warning. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Staff dont offer any alternatives or even any sign of caring.

Today they advertised that trains would stop at 19:00 due to strikes but when we arrived at 17:10 they said there were no more trains.

You're all an absolute joke and you should be ashamed. The worst service with the worst planning. Shambolic. Pathetic.

Air con doesn't work (2 weeks running I've been in carriage B from St Pancras to Shef and no air con). Massively over crowded. Get forced off your train you book on. No seat reservations. No windows for air. Technical difficulties or delays on 90% of my journeys with them in the last year. If this wasn't a service people needed they'd be out of business by now.

A train was cancelled, Man-Piccadilly to Norwich; busy late Friday afternoon; many people swarming to get home for weekend. I had a backpack, suitcase, cane and might not have made it onto train in the rush. An EMR employee Rebecca sized up the situation and forged ahead clearing a path for me to get onboard. I am very grateful. Prof Galloway in Canada

Delays, cancellations and packed carriages and NO working WiFi on the trains, WiFi never works and almost zero mobile signal (EE, O2) - let’s not forget the state of the toilets (bio fluids and loo roll everywhere)

I have travelled every month from London to Sheffield in 1st class for the last 4 years. (Now it’s 2026)

I have also noticed not only the above issues, but the service, food and drinks have continually degraded; yet the ticket prices continue to go up.

Years ago EMR 1st offered full menus and plates! Plus a range for meals and drinks. EMR changed to awful cold / sometime still frozen sandwich’s :(

Now in 1st class there isn’t even food or sandwiches - only biscuits and cheese. It’s appalling for the price.

To make the journey more difficult - the ticket staff bring all those they are fining into 1st class to have the loud non paying customer arguments with.

EMR have gone to great efforts to make 1st class pointless.

I have decided to never use this train service again and will drive back and forth from now on.

Driving is cheaper and faster (unless you live next to ST Panc!)

Driving means I can stop, get food and make calls when needed.

Driving means I don’t have to stand in others effluence

Absolutely unacceptable experience even by British train company standards which is like comparing a road made of turds to a house made of turds. I had a super off peak ticket and had to pay an additional £77 on top of my original £55 to get a train back into London. I was going to get the earlier direct train but the mugs at the ticket desk spent so long explaining my overpriced ticket to me that I missed it and had to get the one after that was 45 minutes delayed. A commuter train being this delayed is so ridiculous and the indifference towards you as a customer when you’re forced to use this company even as they overcharge you is revolting.

Genuinely appalling. The staff are generally lovely but there are only ever 5 crammed carriages, constant delays and cancellations, and I can’t remember the last time a train was on time. Can’t comment on the seats as I’ve never been lucky enough to get one.

Supposed to arrive at Habrough 19.29 & be on the Habrough - Barton train at 19.36. In order to achieve this i need to cross the train track as each train was travelling in opposite directions. The barriers did NOT lift between the first train leaving & the second train arriving, therefore I was never getting the second train home! Who organised this!! Or do EMR expect me to risk my life & push through the safety barriers & cross the tracks despite the obvious train coming down the track!!!!! To make things even worse, when the second train did stop & the barriers finally went up i ran across & was pleading with the conductor to hold but he promptly sped off as I was at the doors, staring at me smirking away as he did so!!! I was left on a dark windy platform all alone in adverse weather with a near 5 hour walk infront of me to get home. After a time I was very luckily able to secure a car to collect me but I had to wait down a pitch black alley to try & shelter from the weather which resulted in me being extremely poorly for over a week. I do not travel the rail often & could not have felt a more vulnerable young woman on that night & it has taken me all my courage 4 months later to put this here. I will never travel this way again.

I have been unsuccessfully trying to receive reimbursement for a cancelled train for more than a month now. My online application is rejected for a generic reason. The customer service would not react to emails. I am just hopeless and will have to reach out to the Rail Ombudsman.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Whilst this is a five-star review, those stars are entirely for the exceptional customer service we received from a wonderful member of staff, Chris Giorgio.

After a long weekend in London, we arrived at St Pancras to catch our train home, only to find that services had been suspended for over two hours, with no clear indication of when they would resume. As you can imagine, there were many confused, anxious and frustrated passengers trying to work out how they were going to get home.

Throughout all of this, Chris remained calm, friendly, approachable and incredibly helpful. He was constantly on hand, answering questions, reassuring passengers and doing everything he could to help people navigate a very stressful situation. Despite the chaos around him, he never once appeared flustered and treated everyone with kindness, patience and respect.

We were fortunate enough to board our train earlier than originally announced, and once again Chris was there to help me and my mum, making sure we got on safely.

I felt compelled to write this review simply to recognise Chris and thank him for his outstanding professionalism. He turned what could have been an overwhelmingly frustrating experience into one that reminded us just how much difference one genuinely caring person can make.

Chris is a true asset to EMR, and I hope he receives the recognition he so thoroughly deserves. Thank you again, Chris.

EDIT - 31st July 2026 :-
In the news today
"East Midlands Railway (EMR) services will be hit by strikes on weekends throughout August 2026. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has announced three 24-hour walk-outs. The union says the strike is in response to EMR failing to withdraw faulty trains.
RMT members working for EMR will walk out on the following dates:

Saturday August 1
Saturday August 8
Saturday August 15
The RMT is also taking action short of strike on August 2-7, 9-14 and 16 onwards."

I just took a return from Leicester to St Pancras on one of these new Aurora trains. While the train does look great from the outside, the first thing I found was that the standard seats are very hard. The loo attached to our carriage was broken down too, not good. When I was waiting to get off there just happened to be a member of staff waiting too. He told me that the whole train frequently breaks down as well as the loos which constantly break down also.
This became obvious to me when waiting for my return train. It got cancelled. That brought on chaotic scenes as hoards of people rushed to get on the next available train and a hell of a lot of people had to stand.
The lady I sat next to makes the return journey from Sheffield to London 3 times a week and she told me that the first class seats are very uncomfortable and that trains are often cancelled. In her experience, of the 6 trains she takes a week, over half are usually cancelled.
I was planning a trip to Brighton in a couple of weeks but upon looking at the schedules and seeing warnings of disruption and delays, coupled with the experience I'd already had, that trip is now cancelled.
It's also very annoying that you cannot book specific seats on these trains and that there are only 2 tables in each carriage. Many people with children will find the kids getting restless and probably acting out because they have no space to do anything. Also many people try and work when travelling but now there is nowhere for their laptops.
All in all I give them 3/10

We booked a train ticket to London, hoping this would be a stress free trip. However, the train on was overbooked, only 5 coaches. We had to stand up for an hour with 3 suitcases in the isle. There was no where for us to stand. This blocked up the isle so in an emergency no one could get past us. Where were we to stand? The points between carriages were full. This is a safety concern and shows profit over safety. So on our return, again there is no where for us to stand or sit. And we have 3 suitcases, surely we can’t be expected to leave them unattended and us to wait elsewhere.

They should not overbook. They should bring back the seat reservation.

I feel sorry for EMR customer-facing staff. They're having to face disgruntled passengers whilst senior managers are hidden well out of the way. I'm not a staff member, just a customer who uses the 'service' a lot (the St pancras to Corby line, and intercity trains on that route), but having seen how much EMR has detiorated this year (and it wasn't great before that), it's almost pitiful. The UK is the 5th largest economy by GDP globally, yet EMR is like a third-world railway service... despite sky-high ticket prices. It's very disappointing that Hitachi, a Japanese company, is also involved in this - if you've been to Japan and used their amazing railway services (the Shinkansen etc), you'd understand why it's so surprising. Anyway, having been into London twice this week, and messed around pretty heavily on both trips with very late / delayed or cancelled trains, what can you say? It's beyond depressing. That said, I did actually come back home on a train this week, with barely anyone else in it... perhaps people had given up and stayed away from London?

Worst rail Co that exists- ageing stock compounded with rubbish new models bought from Hitachi- nothing but really poor excuses. You couldn’t invent the list of excuses that are put out- are there really highly paid executives running this or a bunch of school kids on a work experience event- no disrespect to school kids!!

Irresponsible, unreliable and money hungry, absolutely useless service. We had 4 first class tickets booked, they canceled 2 for "maintenance issue" and waited 24 hours to send a stupid email. We had to call to find out that you canceled all 4 and the only solution they offered was to book different tickets, pay £30 for a time change, pay the difference if the tickets are more expensive. But if the tickets were cheaper, they wouldn't refund a penny. I've never had a worse experience with trains than this. Buying a freaking horse would be cheaper and more reliable for traveling than using their service. Total disgrace!